Stores Crackdown On Returns

by Deepak Sharma on Tuesday, December 20, 2005

CBS News Reports, the holiday season might not be so jolly for shoppers returning presents. Some major retailers are cracking down on repeat returns and changing their policies, too.

Retailers say fraud involving returns costs stores $16 billion dollars a year, so more and more chains are fighting back with policies and practices that make it tougher to return things.

They're shortening the time you have to return items after they're bought, hitting customers with hefty "restocking fees" on returned items, and cracking down on "serial returners" with new, sophisticated computer tracking equipment.
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This fall, Sears began imposing a restocking fee of 15 percent of the purchase price on all electronics products that are returned after they've been used, or with missing parts or manuals. And while they give you 90 days to return other products, you now have only 30 days to return electronics items.
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Many major retailers are even using hi-tech computer systems that track every return you make, and put a red flag on serial returners.

For instance, Wal-Mart has a system that automatically flags customers who try to return more than 3 items without receipts in a 45 day period. If you surpass that limit, they won't accept your returns. If you don't make any returns without a receipt within a six month period, the red flag goes away.